Cathy's Art Diary

Bright exhibition at Marlborough Fine Art of wood relief and sculptural works from the 1970s and 80s by Joe Tilson. I know Tilson for his more recent pictures of Venice set against a patterned background so I was fascinated to see these earlier works. I liked their handcrafted feel   particularly those which were little shelves like a cabinet of curiosities. Many of the works evoke the elements and the back room had groups of sculptures on each of the themes presenting boxes of natural items linked to the element such as feathers in the air boxes. I particularly liked this colourful board of compartments and I would like to see more of his earlier work. Closes 31 July 2021

Colourful exhibition at Marlborough Fine Art of new work by Joe Tilson inspired by Ruskin’s “Stones of Venice”.   These were big bold pictures of Venice mainly using an image of colourful medieval tiles with a picture of a church inset into them. The pictures were named after the churches. Another style involved the same sort of image but emerging from giant envelopes liked postcards. Some of the pictures also showed inscriptions of obsolete forms of the city’s name. I am off to Venice later in the year and this was a great reminder of the colours and vibrancy of the city. I can’t wait! Closes on 2 April 2016

Stunning exhibition at Marlborough Fine Art of recent work by Paulo Rego. The show included pictures telling the story of the last king of Portugal as the title suggested but also pictures illustrating “The Relic” by Eca de Quieroz and a folk tale called “Stone Soup”. They were all bold and colourful with feeling of Renaissance frescos. The pictures were packed full of story. One of the first ones you see has a dinner party with an older lady and four priests. One of the priests prays at a shrine in one corner. Behind the figures is “Our Lady of Sorrows” another picture by Rego which hangs behind you. You brain starts to try to work out the story and questions elements of the picture. The “Stone Soup” pictures were smaller and more delicate and I loved “Foraging” one of the first in a series which gave the impression of someone paddling and things in water really beautifully. But best of all was the sequence on the true story of the last king of Portugal. I loved...

Interesting exhibition at Marlborough Fine Art of recent work by the painter Stephen Hannock. There were two types of work large scale landscapes and smaller studies of light. The large scale pictures were on the surface landscapes in the sublime tradition, but as you looked at the closely they were much more than that. You started to notice words in the fields and rocks describing what the site meant to the artist or its history. There were also small digital photographs which blended into the background which the commentary described beautifully as “trapped like insects in amber”. I particularly like the city scape of Newcastle called “Northern City Renaissance, Mauve dawn” which seemed to act as a personal history of the city.   The smaller works were luminous pictures of light effects such as dawn over water. The setting was secondary to the study of the light. These were domestic pictures and shone from the walls.    

Fascinating exhibition at Marlborough Fine Art looking at Matisse’s use of lithographs and etchings. This exhibition was really well presented with good descriptive boards and nice chronology of Matisse’s life. I felt I was seeing beautiful works but also learning something. They also used some wonderful quotes from Matisse one of which I have to share as to me it describers portraiture so well “ I ended up discovering that the likeness comes from the contrast which exists between then face of the model and other faces, in a word from its particular asymmetry. Each figure has its own rhythm and it is this rhythm which created the likeness.” My favourite pictures were a series of the same girl in a floral dress with a stand up collar. He drew her from different angles and with different levels of finish to the work. In some he concentrates on the detail of the pattern on her dress in other he just hints at it. It was also good to see a rare set of plates from “Jazz” a ...